Closed New year, old me

[Beckett Harrington]

This year Beckett was much more focused, he had goals in his mind that he would be his only priority. First he would need to follow his schedule that Minnie helped him build giving so he would have more socialising hours so he could be a perfect candidate to Head Boy. Second he needed to study harder than before, clearly his nemesis Emmaline was a lot smarter than he took her for so he would need to step up and bring his A game this year. Third would somehow be top house points earner, he knew that this goal was a bit too unreal at least until next year so obviously he would try as hard as he could but wouldn't be too angry anout it if he didn't achieve this one.
Classes hadn't even started yet but the boy already had all his books and was in the library reading them, taking notes, answering questions, memorising things and doing some research so he could have extra information on things if needed to. He was there for almost three hours and in exactly five minutes he would take a 'social break' of one hour before getting back to it again, the hardest part was finding someone to socialise with but he couldn't bother with that yet he needed to focus on what he was doing.

 

[Addison Beckett]

Addison was struggling this year. She had realized after the dances last year that she liked Augustus- not just as her best friend, but as more, but he never seemed to really see her like that. She blamed herself. She was just too nerdy, too plain, too weird to be seen as anything other than some silly kid. She knew she needed to change to get his attention. So, that day, instead of reading old encyclopedias in the library, Addison came into the room with a large stack of teen magazines about fashion and beauty that she had gotten Asher to send her on the down-low. Addy knew her mother would disapprove of these magazines, telling her how shallow they were. But Addy didn't care. She sat at a table, nodding once to the boy at the other end before pulling out a fresh notebook and turning it to the first page. She picked up a magazine and began to read.

 

[Beckett Harrington]

Beckett finish reading the last chapter of the Charms books, these year spells sounded interesting, some a bit more fun to learn, some more useful, some equally useless and the ones he learned last year. He looked at his watch, the five minutes had gone by and he looked up to see a girl on the other egde of the table surrounded by magazines, the cheap ones that muggles buy to get the inside scoop on celebrities lives, gossip and to feed on someone else's drama. The Ravenclaw boy was kind of interested in what she was doing, and even though the library wasn't exactly the place to socialise, they were both there. He took a deep breath and made himself come out of his shell, he was on his social time break between studying so he needed to find someone to talk to and who better than that girl?
"What are you doing there?" he said to her, almost in a whisper, they were in a library after all but loud enough for anyone to notice the british accent in his voice.

 

[Addison Beckett]

Addison looked up as a boy spoke, surprised. "Hello," She replied easily, noting his accent. She spoke softly as he had done, not sure why he would want to talk to her. "I'm looking through the useless gossip and quizzes to see if I can't find any applicable beauty techniques," She replied softly. "Did you know that by monitoring the academic intelligence and physical appearance of more than 17,000 people from childhood up to early adulthood, researchers at the London School of Economics found that in Britain, good-looking women have IQs 11.4 points above the average, and attractive men have a higher IQ of 13.6 points?" She asked out of habit, before shutting her eyes and sighing. She really needed to stop doing that. "Sorry," She murmured, tucking her hair behind her ear.

 

[Beckett Harrington]

Beckett was surprised, not everyone in this school seemed to have his interests or keep a conversation going with him, he seemed to always be smartest person in the room out of everyone and make them feel, in plain terms, dumb. This girl was probably giving him one of the most interesting conversations he had since his first time at Hogwarts "So you are saying that the more good looking you are the smarter you are too?" he said to her "Is that why you are looking for beauty techniques? To become smarter?" he asked, not really able to contain a small chuckle.
He remembered that maybe his sister Katrina, who was a teacher in London, even though she was a magical teacher at Hogwarts, probably knew about this study the girl had just mentioned. Of course that his sister, even in London, was better than him and could still make him feel bad about not being smart enough, not that she did it on purpose.
"If you looking for beauty techniques why not look into a beauty magazine instead?" he questioned "You know...Cleopatra, from the ancient Egypt, was one of the most beautiful women that ever lived. I'm sure there must be some book on here that mentions her beauty routine" he added not really sure if the girl would be exactly down to follow what could be considered some unorthodox methods.

 

[Addison Beckett]

Addison shrugged. "I think it might be due to less societal pressure about how you look, so there's less negative hormones to dampen your intellectual growth, or it could also be that peers and professors react better to those that are pleasing to the eye so there's better help for those with a pretty face," She mused. She blushed a little as he asked if that was why she was looking for beauty techniques. She didn't want to admit she was looking to try and make her friend notice her as more than just a friend, so she chose instead not to answer his question.

She perked up as he mentioned Cleopatra. "Did you know that Cleopatra's actual beauty is a point of contest between many scholars? It's believed that she wasn't as comely as she's famous for, and that it was Roman propaganda, as there are coins with her visage that depict her with manly features and a large hooked nose.
She spoke as many as a dozen languages and was educated in mathematics, philosophy, oratory and astronomy." She almost went on, but she bit her lip to try and quiet herself. "Sorry," She apologized quietly.

 

[Beckett Harrington]

Beckett chuckled, maybe a little too loud than he should have, this conversation was far more interesting than he ever thought he would be and also quite amusing especially because this girl was like a facts-spilling machine. The theory that she suggested was quite interesting and he had to admit that it could be true but there were also cases were it wasn't, Beckett wouldn't consider himself attractive and yet he was probably one of the smartest people at school, all because of his hard work.
The girl seemed to keep going about Cleopatra, something that Beckett already knew but he chose to ignore, the Ravenclaw boy just nodded and said "Well, usually you wouldn't hear me say this but I find it way more interesting to belive that she was this person with immense beauty rather than some hag" he said in a whisper to the girl. The boy suddenly gave her a questioning look and then a determined one "Never apologise for being smart." he said to her. Beckett used to be like that too until he realised that he was apologising for being himself just because he made people around him feel insecure "I'm Beckett by the way, Ravenclaw" he said to the girl.

 

[Addison Beckett]

Addison smiled a little at his statement. Before she could think of a proper response, he told her not to apologize, and she blushed a little bit. She glanced up again as he introduced himself. She held out her hand. "Addison. Hufflepuff. Third year." She introduced herself in return. "Did you know that handshakes used to be a way of showing you were unarmed upon a meeting? And that you can irritate some people by extending your left hand to initiate a handshake?" She offered out of habit, not feeling quite as badly about it as she had before.

 

[Beckett Harrington]

Beckett couldn't help but be a little surprised that this girl was older than him, she didn't look like she was but he just nodded. He decided to shake her hand too and in return he said "Do you know that the earliest known descriptions of a handshake are of the 9th century BC between the Babylonian king and the Assyrian king in order to seal an alliance?" he added grinning. Beckett might not knew much about theories or random facts but if there was one thing he knew a lot about was history. Beckett liked this kind of intellectual stimulation but if there was one thing that he had to do was to prove that he was the smartest people in the room, Harrington people always are.

 

[Addison Beckett]

Addison grinned, very pleased with this conversation. "Did you know that the oldest- and longest- alliance in the world is The Anglo-Portuguese Alliance between the kingdom of England and Portugal? It's been in place since May of 1386?" She offered back, propping her chin in her hands and smiling widely at him. It had been a long time- well, if she was being honest, the first time, that someone had actually tried to match her fact for fact. It was so interesting, and she couldn't deny how thrilled she was with her new friend.

 

[Beckett Harrington]

Beckett looked at the girl with a grin, she was entering in his domain. He had history and had studied the English history, he was after all from England "Well of course I know that, I'm British " he said with a small chuckle. "But technically you are wrong on the date" he told Addison "The alliance started in 1294. It was renewed in the Anglo-Portuguese Treaty of 1373 and confirmed in the Battle of Aljubarrota in 1385, mostly know by Brites de Almeida the baker-woman of Aljubarrota who killed eight Castilian soldiers. In may of 1386 the Treaty of Windsor indeed sealed the alliance that had started almost one hundred years before the date." he said winking and with a grin on his face.

 

[Addison Beckett]

Addison's eyes widened, and without thinking, she scooted her chair closer. She leaned forward, folding her head on her arms and listening intently. "I didn't know that," She spoke, smiling brightly. "You're different. And fun. Let's be friends." She offered, tucking her hair behind her ear. "My twin sister might tease you a bit though since our last name is Beckett, but she's always making odd nicknames for everyone," She laughed a little. "Her best friend is Stanislaw and instead of calling him Stan like the rest of us she calls him Stanis." She shrugged. "People usually think I'm the weird twin though." She looked away shyly.

 

[Beckett Harrington]

Beckett had to admit, he had been caught off guard with Addison's straightforwardness about being friends. Beckett didn't do friends, friends were a distraction to his perfect grades and to being head boy. No, Minnie would tell him to befriend the girl besides he already had a few 'friends', or at least he thought he did? He was not sure where to put Sawyer and Oscar in his relationships but they were the closest he had of friends so Beckett guessed that another one couldn't hurt that much so he just nodded at the girl's statement of being friends.
Beckett couldn't help but chuckle softly and roll his eyes when Addison mentioned nicknames "My sister also developed some sort of taste for nicknames. Honestly she had like ten nicknames for me, all dreadful" he said with his cheeks turning a little red as he thought of some of the nicknames. Who remembers such things as Bookbeck?!

 

[Addison Beckett]

Addy smiled as he nodded, agreeing to be friends. That made two! She had two friends! She felt really pleased with herself. She laughed a little at his last statement. "Well, my family just calls me Addy," She offered. It wasn't overly creative, but it was better than what the kids at her old school used to call her. She smiled a bit. "Do you spend a lot of time in the library, Beckett?" She asked, curious if she would see him in here again.

 

[Beckett Harrington]

Beckett nodded at the girl "Yeah, either here or the common room". He decided to left the part where his favourite hobbie was doing homework out of the conversation. "I care a lot about my academic results and besides Harringtons have a reputation to maintain" he said not really sure if the girl had ever heard of his family. The Harringtons were a very important family, with connections to the Ministry and other important people and institutions. Intelligence was a Harrington trait and there hasn't been a single Harrington who hasn't attended Hogwarts and hasn't been placed in the blue house, they were what a lot of people could call a legacy family.
His family wasn't a pureblood since some people in the family felt attracted to muggles but there hasn't been records of a wizard/muggle marriage in five generations now so he could almost be considered one. This girl was smart yes but she had no idea of the pressure that the name Harrington brought to Beckett, that's why while the other kids spent their free afternoons by the lake shore, Beckett would spend them in the library gaining more and more knowledge.

 

[Addison Beckett]

Addison listened as he told her he liked being in the library and in the common room. Well, his common room. "What's the Ravenclaw common room like?" She asked. "The Hufflepuff common room is really earthy and comfortable with a lot of couches and pillows, it's really comfortable." She told him. She thought over his statement about a reputation to maintain. "That sounds like a lot of pressure," She mused softly. "Is there anything I can do to help?" She asked, even though she doubted there was anything she could do.

 

[Beckett Harrington]

Beckett gave it some thought before answering, it was impossible to describe the Ravenclaw common room in a way that the listener would capture its beauty in full. "Well, the common room is very airy and sunny. Has big windows and the sun always shines through them making always have natural light. We also have couches, pillows and tables there and even our own personal library" he said but feeling like he was leaving the wow factor out but not really sure what he could add.
Beckett just shrugged a "Unfortunately things are not so easy. There's nothing you can do" no one could do anything, Harringtons would be always be Harringtons.

 

[Addison Beckett]

Addison listened intently to Beckett, nodding. "It does sound wonderful," She mused, before suddenly sitting up and snapping. "Oh! I bet my cousin could draw the common rooms wonderfully! He's a really good artist!" She laughed. "I'm sure if you two work together he can draw the Ravenclaw common room really well. I can have him draw the Hufflepuff common room first to show you what I mean," She nodded. She smiled a bit as he said there was nothing she could do. "Well, we're friends now, so if you ever need anything, just ask," She reassured him.

 

[Beckett Harrington]

Beckett doubted he was ever going to meet that cousin of hers that she talked about, if he wasn't a Ravenclaw or a second year it was unlikely that he knew him or would know him, Beckett needed to focus and study and all his social time was spent in interactions like these, in the library or his common room.
"Well I do have one question" he said remembering that the girl was pretty good at dodging his earlier question, she might think that he didn't noticed but he did, and was ready to attack that issue with full carge "Why are you looking for beauty techniques?" he asked again.

 

[Addison Beckett]

Addison hadn't expected him to turn a question to her so soon, and she was surprised by it. Her eyes widened, and she turned her gaze away, fidgeting nervously as a blush heated her cheeks. "I... it's silly," She managed softly, tucking her hair behind her ear and not looking at him. "You'll laugh," She bit her lip, before sighing softly. "I... really like one of my friends. But he doesn't notice me as a girl. I just... thought if I made myself look better he might see me," She admitted softly.

 

[Beckett Harrington]

Beckett was not surprised, he imagined it could be something like that and there were a lot of things he was considering at the moment but decided to give her some initial advice that hopefully she would listen to "Well first of, you should look good for yourself and not some guy. You should be able to be as you are, comfortable in your own skin" he said quoting some magazine he read. "Second, I don't wanna sound mean but...if he doesn't show interest in you...as a girl....is there any possibility that maybe he is..." he swallowed "gay?" he said softly.

 

[Addison Beckett]

Addison nearly sighed at his words. She knew there was the chance he would say something like that. She liked herself just fine already, that wasn't what mattered to her. She just wanted Augustus to see her. She shook her head at his suggestion. "He's not. I considered that, but I see him looking at prettier girls," She sighed softly. "I think my cousin is, but he won't admit it. I see how he looks at the boys though, so I'm fairly sure," She shrugged, looking away.

 

[Beckett Harrington]

Beckett somehow felt relieved to hear that the boy Addy was after wasn't gay. If she was going to get a heartbreak at least he wouldn't be because of that. "Well then just be yourself" he shrugged at her "From what I know confidence, eye contact and flirting usually do the trick" he added "But I never really had a love life, I'm telling you this based on articles I read" he said letting her know that the advice didn't really had Beckett's seal of approval. About her cousin he decided to keep his thought to himself, it was important that he took his time coming out.

 

[Addison Beckett]

Addison laughed a little. "I've tried that already, it doesn't work on him," She sighed, propping her head on her hands. "I dunno, I guess I thought it would just be easy. I have a twin sister, and she picked her best friend when we first started, and they're pretty much inseparable. There was some drama with his family so he's basically been adopted and lives with us now," She sighed. "They'll probably end up together, knowing them," She shook her head. "It's so much simpler trying to build connections in school. Did you know you never meet so many people as you do when you're in school?" She asked.

 

[Beckett Harrington]

Beckett didn't exactly knew what to add since the girl had tried that, he wanted to say that maybe the other guy wasn't that into her maybe but he had no experience on that field. He found himself thinking that he would need to start having more experience on that, after all a genius is only a genius if he knows everything about anything and love was something he knew little to nothing about. He'd only date someone for experience purposes of course, as soon as he had enough information he would break up. "I never thought about that but that makes sense" he said answering to her question. He then got a brilliant idea that he would often saw in muggle movies "Well...if nothing works you can always try to make him jealous" he suggested. People always notice stuff after they lose it.